The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao restaurantâs delicious Americanized Chinese food for thirty-five years, content to ignore any unsavory whispers about the family owners. Whether or not Big Leo Chao is
honest, or his wife, Winnie, is happy, their food tastes good and their three sons earned scholarships to respectable colleges. But when the brothers reunite in Haven, the Chao familyâs secrets and simmering resentments erupt at last.
Before long, brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo is found deadâpresumed murderedâand his sons find theyâve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town. The ensuing trial brings to light potential motives for all three
brothers: Dagou, the restaurantâs reckless head chef; Ming, financially successful but personally tortured; and the youngest, gentle but lost college student James. As the spotlight on the brothers tightensâand the family dog meets an
unexpected fateâDagou, Ming, and James must reckon with the legacy of their fatherâs outsized appetites and their own future survival.
Brimming with heartbreak, comedy, and suspense, The Family Chao offers a kaleidoscopic, highly entertaining portrait of a Chinese American family grappling with the dark undercurrents of a seemingly pleasant small town.